Chapter 893 - 696: This Is Simply Moral Coercion!
Xue Yansi had been hiding these past few days, with not a single piece of news about him. Only recently did the Ghost Snake Clan finally lock onto his location—he was actually in the Divine Fox Clan?!
How could he have run off there?
Although Xue Xiaoyuan was full of questions, since they’d gone through so much trouble to pin down the place, it definitely couldn’t be wrong.
So he didn’t hesitate, immediately took a squad of personal guards, and set out for the Divine Fox Clan to demand the man.
But who could have imagined it? He, the dignified Ghost Snake Clan Leader, personally coming to the door, ended up eating a closed-door refusal—he didn’t even get past the city gate, blocked right outside.
Granted, he came uninvited, and barging into another clan’s territory wasn’t very respectable, but he had come with sincerity this time, not only personally preparing plenty of rare treasures, but his trip was also for the purpose of apprehending a fugitive, with perfectly legitimate grounds.
In any clan, they shouldn’t be making things difficult for him over this.
Yet in reality, the Divine Fox Clan directly dispatched troops to encircle the entire city, and then stopped Xue Xiaoyuan’s group dead at the city gate.
No matter what he said, the other side adamantly refused to let them enter.
This! It was obvious someone inside the Divine Fox Clan wanted to protect Xue Yansi!
Xue Xiaoyuan’s expression looked extremely ugly; he even had a flash of the idea to force his way in.
But the Divine Fox Clan’s strength was right there for all to see. If they really started a fight and triggered a war between the two clans, the price would be too great, simply not worth it.
What’s more, he’d heard that the Divine Fox Clan’s newly appointed Clan Leader was extremely powerful; he didn’t have guaranteed confidence of winning.
As the Ghost Snake Clan Family Head, the more Xue Xiaoyuan thought, the darker his face grew.
He simply couldn’t figure out how Xue Yansi could have gotten entangled with the Divine Fox Clan. Given that cold personality of his, how could he possibly have some big shot in the Divine Fox Clan shielding him?
With no other options, Xue Xiaoyuan could only think up a dirty trick to force Xue Yansi to come out on his own.
Xue Yansi’s greatest concern was that fiancée of his, wasn’t it? Then bring his fiancée here and see if he still dares hide!
Luo Ying was also very angry when she learned of this.
Xue Yansi was clearly still alive; why hadn’t he shown himself in all this time?
Their engagement ceremony hadn’t even been completed yet, and he just left her alone like this. Wasn’t he deliberately making her a laughingstock?
Of course, deep down she still believed that Xue Yansi loved her, that perhaps there really was some unspeakable difficulty.
So Luo Ying agreed to Xue Xiaoyuan’s proposal. The two sides decided to join hands in putting on a play—"lure the snake out of the hole."
Xue Xiaoyuan then brought Luo Ying as well to the foot of the Divine Fox Clan’s city.
The common folk in the city were all astonished when they saw this show of force.
Word spread from one to ten, ten to a hundred, and more and more people gathered at the city gate to watch the spectacle.
With such a commotion, it was impossible for Xue Yansi not to know.
Soon someone noticed that this time, besides the Ghost Snake Clan Family Head Xue Xiaoyuan and Luo Ying, there was also a tall, thin middle-aged female standing at her side. This person’s temperament was especially distinctive, carrying an indescribable eerie chill.
She looked to be in her forties, fine lines at the corners of her eyes, her bearing noble and unfathomable. Most eye-catching of all was that mane of long hair that nearly brushed the ground.
She was leaning on a wooden cane almost as tall as a person.
The cane didn’t look artificially carved, more like a roughly broken tree branch picked up at random. Some vivid vine-like things were twined around it; it seemed utterly unremarkable, yet appearing together with this female, it made people feel a strange chill, as if even the surrounding air had cooled by several degrees.
Perhaps it was because her gaze was too calm. It wasn’t the calm of natural indifference, but a kind of hollow without any emotion at all. The aura around her was equally stable, as if she didn’t exist, seemingly transcending some realm, utterly at odds with everything around her.
This middle-aged female stood there quietly, like air. But when facing her, Luo Ying was extremely nervous, even lowering her voice to murmur, "Mother."
The middle-aged female spoke calmly, "What happens next depends on you. Don’t disappoint me."
"I understand, Mother." Luo Ying bit her lip, summoned her courage, walked to the very front of the group, and looked up at the towering city gate.
She was very confident.
As long as she came, Xue Yansi would definitely come out!
She quickly put on a sorrowful expression, her eyes reddening, tears brimming as she cried toward the city, "Brother Yanci, are you in there? Hurry and come out, don’t hide anymore."
"The moment I heard news of you, I rushed over... Uu, please come out, okay? I can’t live without you."
"I’ve already spoken to the Clan Leader. This was all just a misunderstanding. As long as you admit your wrongdoing, the clan will forgive you, and the Clan Leader won’t pursue it anymore..."
"We’re already engaged. If you don’t come out, they’re going to punish me to take the blame in your stead... I—I’m so scared, uu..."
She acted with tears like pear blossoms in rain, pitiful enough to move anyone. Even many common folk on the city wall felt a pang in their hearts when they saw it.
Yet there wasn’t the slightest movement from inside the city.
Luo Ying felt her throat was about to cry itself hoarse, her tears already spent, yet she still hadn’t seen a single figure.
She gradually couldn’t keep up the act, her heart turning both angry and ashamed, and even giving rise to a thread of fear.
She’d gone this far with her performance—why was Xue Yansi still not coming out?
Could he... really have no intention of showing himself?
No, impossible!
Xue Yansi loved her so much; how could he possibly watch her being punished with his eyes wide open? He would never ignore whether she lived or died!
Even as she comforted herself like this, she was feeling less and less sure.
The middle-aged female she’d addressed as Mother, seeing that Luo Ying had failed to draw him out, showed a hint of displeasure on her face. "You really are useless, after all the trouble I went to helping you."
Luo Ying’s face instantly turned pale, fear showing in her expression. Her legs went weak, and she nearly dropped to her knees.
Her voice trembled as she said, "N-no... that’s not true... Mother, please believe in me. I’m useful, I can definitely bring Xue Yansi back!"
She clenched her teeth, hardened her heart, and actually had the Ghost Snake Clan Family Head Xue Xiaoyuan order his men, right there at the city gate under the gaze of the crowd, to tie her up.
They even released a statement—
If Xue Yansi still failed to appear, they would burn this fiancée alive in public to atone for his sins!
...
On Shen Tang’s side, she had actually been watching the situation at the city gate the whole time. In the main hall there was a huge light screen, currently displaying the scene outside the gate.
Shen Tang was so angry she practically wanted to curse someone’s ancestors.
Upon learning that the Ghost Snake Clan had brought troops to seize a person, she’d immediately used the Clan Leader Token Shen Li had given her to mobilize the army and block them outside the city. She’d thought the other side would know when to stop, but she’d never expected them to start threatening with a hostage—and one that was Xue Yinzhou’s so-called fiancée, no less!
This was nothing less than a combination of self-inflicted suffering and moral coercion!
A male too scared to face death, hiding and not daring to show himself, yet wanting his fiancée to atone in his place—if word of that got out, it would be shameful to the extreme, sure to become a laughingstock.
Even if Xue Yinzhou’s talent was outstanding and his strength extremely high, once people brought up this matter in the future, he’d inevitably be mocked.
What made Shen Tang even angrier was that Xue Yinzhou and Luo Ying hadn’t even officially completed the engagement, nor were they together, yet she insisted on tying the two of them together in her narrative.
Shen Tang suddenly felt like a cap had been forcibly jammed onto her head, making her whole body feel ill at ease!
Xue Yinzhou, at her side, watched the image on the light screen in silence, his cool, pale face without the slightest ripple.
He also finally confirmed that he truly had no feelings for this "fiancée." All those so-called "feelings" before had merely been influenced by those memories in his mind, making him feel guilty toward Luo Ying.
And now, since he knew the memories might be false, and might even have been tampered with by Luo Ying herself, that last trace of guilt vanished as well, leaving only a faint disgust.
In that case, there was no need to save her.
If she died, she died.
If she really wanted to atone for him, then let her atone.
As for reputation? He was truly sorry, but Xue Yinzhou had never cared about that, nor did he need it.
He said to Shen Tang, "I won’t go out."
Shen Tang, however, went against her usual pattern and suddenly said, "No. You have to make a trip."
Xue Yinzhou looked at her with some doubt.
Shen Tang narrowed her eyes, her voice calm. "If you don’t enter the tiger’s den, how will you get the tiger’s cub? And that thing inside your body still hasn’t been dealt with. Only by luring it out first can we find a way to eradicate it at the root."
"And moreover..."
Shen Tang once more looked toward the light screen, her gaze landing on that inconspicuous middle-aged female, a glint of contemplation flashing in her eyes. "For some reason, this person gives me a strange feeling—a kind of instinctive danger. I need you to go probe what she’s really about."
"All right." Xue Yinzhou naturally listened to her. He turned and headed straight toward the city gates.